Lock



LOCK. 7

APPLICATION FILED APR.29, 19w.

1,369,506. Patented Feb. 22, 1921.

|NVENTOR BY' v 7cm, 8. MM

ATTORNEY UNITED STATIEISFPATENT OFFICE:

HENRY G. VOIGIIT, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO SARGENT & COM- PANY, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION CONNECTICUT.

LOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb. 22, 1921.

Application filed April 29, 1918. Serial No. 231,405.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY .G. Vo GH'r, a citizen of the United States, residing 1n New Britain, county of Hartford, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Locks, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact descrlption.

This invention relates to looks, and more particularly to a cover or guard for a key hole of a'lock.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a cover or guard for the key hole of locks, which will completely prevent dust and other foreign matter from entering the key hole while the key is removed from the same.

A more specific object of my invention 1s to provide a flexible pad for covering the key hole and the adjacent parts of locks when the key is removed from the same, and to provide convenient means for removably retaining the pad in position over the key hole.

My invention is particularly adapted to be applied to padlocks which are to be used upon the exterior of automobiles and upon other conveyances where the lock will be submitted to a large amount of dust, in order to prevent dust from accumulating in the key hole of the lock and thus interfering with the proper operation of the key, although it will be apparent that the applica tion of my key hole cover or guard is not limited to this particular type of lock.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the novel features and combina tions of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a padlock provided with my improved cover or guard, the same being shown in its operative position Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing the cover or guard in its inoperative position and showing a key in the key hole of the lock;

Fig. 3 is a rear end view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view on line 44 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation of a modification of my invention.

In the drawing, I have illustrated my invention as applied to a well known type which passes through the lugs 19 an of shackle look. This lock consists of a body portion 10, a shackle 11, and a key barrel 12 having a key 13 positioned in the key barrel, all of which features may be of any desired or Well known construction, as they do not form a part of my invention.

In order to apply my improved cover or guard to the type of look just described, I preferably form a lug such as 14 on each side of the lock casing 10, adjacent the rear end of the same. These lugs may be formed upon the lockcasing in any desired manner, and preferablyeXtend outwardly to lie subtantially flush with the side faces of thelock 10, as shown in Fig. 3. I also provide the lock casing 10 with a pin such as 15, rigidly secured in the same in the position shown in the drawings. The cover plate herein disclosed is designated in its entirety by the numeral 16. This cover plate is preferably stamped out of sheet metal and consists of a body portion having spaced, upwardly bent sides 17 and a narrow, forwardly projecting end 18. The sides 17 are spaced apart a sufficient distance to receive the rear end of the body portion of the lock 10 l1l11(. between, and the narrow end 18 is bent upwardly at substantially right angles to the body portion of the cover plate, and the tip of this upwardly bent portion is flared outwardly, as shown in the drawing. The upwardly bent sides 17 are provided with rearwardly projecting lugs 19, which preferably have substantially the same configuration as the lugs 14 above mentioned. The cover plate 16 is pivotally mounted upon the body portion 10 of the look by a pivot pig 20,

14. The narrow, upwardlybent portion 18 of the cover plate is provided with a drill hole 21, which is adapted to receive the project 'ingend of the pin 15 above mentioned. The

cover plate 16 is preferably provided with a pocket such as 22, which may be easily formed by forcing a part of the sheet metal of which the cover plate is formed outwardly a short distance, as shown in Figs. 1

to 4 inclusive of the drawing. In this pocket 22 is seated a relatively soft flexible pad such as 23, formed of rubber felt or any other desirable material which will cover the key holeof the lock and the parts adjacent to the same tov exclude dust and other foreign matter from the same. This pad 23 may be secured in the pocket 22 by cementing the same in place, or in any other desired manner.

From the above description, it will be apparent that when it is desired to use my cover or guard to exclude dust and other foreign matter from the key hole after the key has been removed from the lock, all that 15, as shown in. F 1. as the relatively nar row. upwardly bent portion 18 will be su:" licicntly resilient to permit the same to be easily forced into locking engagement with the pin 15. When the cover plate is moved to this position, as shown in Fig. 1, the flexible pad will. be held over the rear end of the key plug, and over the key hole formed in the same, so that all dirt and dust will be excluded from the same, the parts being so adjusted that the pad will be forced into engagement with the rear face of the lock 10 with suflicient force to prevent any dust from entering between the lock and the pad. \Vhen it is desired to insert the key 13 in its key hole, all that is necessary is to exert a sufficient amount of pressure upon the outwardly flared end of the portion 18 to disengage the drill hole 21 from the pin 15, so that the cover plate will swing downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 2, whereupon the rear end of the lock is exposed to receive the key, free from dirt and dust, no matter how dirty and dusty the lock and its cover plate may be.

In Fig. 5 of the drawing, I have shown a slight modification of the cover plate shown in Figs. 1 to i inclusive. This figure shows the cover plate 16 not provided with a pocket to receive the pad, as in Figs. 1' to 4 inclusive, but the pad 23 is secured to the inner face of the cover plate 16 by cement, or in any other desired. manner. The operation of the cover plate 16 is exactly the same as the cover plate disclosed in the other figures, the only difference being that the pocket is omitted from the device disclosed inthis figure. 7

As above stated, my improved cover or guard is particularly desirable and useful when mounted upon locks which are exposed to a large amount of dust and dirt, since, under such conditions,a cover plate alone would not entirely exclude dust and dirt from the key hole; but by providing the soft, flexible pad which is retained firmly in place over the key hole, it is practically impossible forv foreign matter to enter the key hole when the same is covered by my improved device, nomatter what the condition of the atmosphere which surrounds my lock.

Although I have illustrated my improved device as applied to a padlock, it will be obvious that my invention is not limited to this particular type of lock, and that the same may be applied to practically any desired type of lock, without departing from the scope of my invention as defined in the claims.

lVhat I claim is:

1. In combination with a lock having a keyhole, a pad of relatively soft flexible material for covering said keyhole, and a cover plate mounted upon said lock and constructed to compress said pad in engagement with said keyhole to exclude dirt and dust therefrom,said pad being secured to said cover plate.

2. In combination with a lock, a key barrel having an exposed end, a flexible pad having substantially the confi guration of the exposed end of said key barrel, and means mounted upon said lock for r'emovably supporting said pad over the end said key barrel to exclude dirt and dust therefrom.

8. A cover plate for the keyhole of a lock having a pocket formed therein, and a flexible pad mounted in said pocket for covering said keyhole.

4.,In combination with a padlock having a keyhole formed in its rear face, a cover plate swingingly mounted upon said padlock and having a flexible pad for covering said keyhole, means mounted upon a lateral face of said padlock and positioned to be engaged by said cover plate, said plate being provided with a resilient outer end bent at substantia ly right angles to the main part of said plate and positioned to be sprung into locking engagement with said means whereby said plate is retained in position to cover said keyhole.

5. In combination with a lock having a keyhole, a cover plate for said keyhole swingingly mounted upon said lock, said plate having a pocket formed therein and a pad seated in said pocket and positioned to cover said keyhole;

6. In combination with a padlock having a keyhole, a cover plate having a pocket formed therein swingly mounted upon said padlock, and a pad of relatively soft material secured to said cover plate within. said pocket, said cover plate being constructed to retain said pad in snug engagement with said keyhole to exclude dust and dirt therefrom.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand on the 24th day of April, 1918.

HENRY G. VOIGHT. 

